Off Centre (2001–2002)

Two men, a British stud and an American doofus, share an apartment in New York City where they try to pick up a variety of women "supermodels" for themselves.

Creators:

Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, Danny Zuker

Stars:

Eddie Kaye Thomas, Sean Maguire, Lauren Stamile

Cast

Series cast summary:
Eddie Kaye Thomas	...	Mike Platt (28 episodes, 2001-2002)
Sean Maguire	...	Euan Pierce (28 episodes, 2001-2002)
Lauren Stamile	...	Liz Lombardi (28 episodes, 2001-2002)
John Cho	...	Chau Presley (28 episodes, 2001-2002)
Jason George	...	Nathan 'Status Quo' (27 episodes, 2001-2002)

Storyline

In this sitcom, British ex-pat Euan Pierce has it made: after brilliant studies he got a super Wall Street job which pays fabulously, so he can easily afford every luxury to appeal to the ladies, even though his natural killer charm -great looks and even smoother talk- is usually more then enough to make them line up to satisfy his healthy young appetite. He generously shares his splendid penthouse with his American college roomy, Mike Platt, who has absolutely no style, self-confidence or panache but took a dead-end altruistic job and has an even more up-tight, bossy girlfriend, Liz Lombardi. Their most frequent guest is Vietnamese deadbeat waiter Chau Presley, who never ceases boasting, especially his supposed sexual conquests, but never succeeds in anything. Euan's neighbor is the rich, popular but stupid and arrogant rap star Nathan 'Status Quo', who holds court with even dumber sycophants and a stream of groupies and reporters.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alkkarit

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Weitz, Weitz and Zuker, DreamWorks Television, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Mike Platt: [after Status' dog has farted, Mike is laughing] What? Gas is funny. And dog gas is like seven times as funny!

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Crazy Credits

In the episode "Little House on the Bowery". The "tire" is credited as "and introducing Steve the tire as himself"

User Reviews

John Cho Is DYNAMITE!

While I was home from college for Christmas I began staying up to the small hours in order to catch this show and the equally impressive 'Opposite Sex', both of which have been totally disrespected by British TV and a US network system which seems to want to cancel everything good ever (The Ben Stiller Show, Freaks & Geeks, Family Guy) and allow profitable stinkers like Friends to stay on way past their sell by dates - that dumb show hasn't been funny since the fifth season!

I've found many interesting US gems tucked away on cable stuck in slots way past midnight and completely underrated - NewsRadio, Kids In The Hall (I know it's Canadian but what the hell), corny 80s show Riptide - and only stumbled on this because I recognised the well cast players. In England, Sean Maguire was a pretty big soap opera heartthrob and a likeable chap so it was good to see him being genuinely funny in what seemed like a big American sitcom; Eddie Kaye Thomas hasn't yet let me down in the humor stakes; and John Cho was good in both slices of Pie and the Weitz Brothers' Down To Earth. What guest appearances from other Pie alumni and the involvement of the Weitzes I figured this would do well but, alas, a promising comedy has been cut down.

It was flawed - I didn't like Status Quo, the setups were rather tired, it could never be accused of originality and it relied too heavily on the hysterically funny Cho coming in and doing something zany - but Thomas and Maguire both acquitted themselves well and it handled sex and relationships in a decent enough way. I guess I'm just surpised that this perfectly enjoyable albeit run-of-the-mill sitcom got the chop so quickly considering the names involved - granted that the actors aren't famous but seeing as Paul and Chris have been critically and commercially successful with all their projects and that they could rope in some old friends every other episode, it doesn't make sense that Off Centre leave us after, like, a season and a half. Bad business, the show was perfect post-drinking entertainment and made me laugh hard every edition, which is more than can be said for Friends and Will & Grace and all that other crappy crap.

I give Off Centre 3 Jason Biggs out of 5